"Back away slowly," Richard instructed them as he stood firm to block the other werewolf's path. "Dreyshkan man, ready that rifle of yours."

Ivan blinked, clearly torn at the idea. Lucius could imagine the thought process that was going through his head. The sight of a werewolf to begin with, then the idea to shoot a sacred being of his faith, and then the doubt that he'd actually succeed. A lot of information was being dropped and Lucius knew those following, bewildering thoughts very well.

"We don't want any trouble," Richard called out, but then lowered his voice to address Tom. "There's no way I'm quick enough to change back if she charges. Please tell me you have some kind of idea."

"Nerve poison," Tom suggested, reaching into his pocket. "Not nearly enough to shut down a body of that size, but maybe hinder her for a while."

Then the garm let out a loud snarl and took a step forward. The mere sound of her paw against the stone floor was enough to tell Lucius that her weight definitely matched her size. Fortunately, that could serve as an advantage for them. With her body so cramped in that space she'd have a hard time rushing against them without risking falling into the water.

"Well, I don't think you have a choice but to try," Tom then whispered, and Richard threw Ivan a hesitant glance.

"But—"

"I'm not stupid," Ivan interrupted him, still with an uncertain look in his eyes, but perhaps the appearance of one werewolf had been enough to confirm any earlier suspicions concerning Richard.

"Al—Alright, that's—" Richard began but the rest of his sentence was drowned out by a roar from the garm and before Lucius could react she'd began moving towards them. As he'd expected, she couldn't move as quickly as he figured a werewolf should be able to, but her stride was nothing to underestimate even so.

"Lucius, can you throw your knife?" Tom hurriedly asked as panic filled his voice and he brought out the vial of poison from his pocket. "Coat it in this and aim for its chest."

Lucius gritted his teeth. He'd thrown a knife once or twice before, but the ones he carried weren't particularly well balanced for throwing and he doubted it would cut into the target anyway.

"Fuck it," Richard said and began stepping forward. "Just—Just try to get away as far as possible. I should be able to—"

Then he was suddenly pulled backwards and Ivan shoved him into the rest of the group.

"Cover your ears and run," he hissed, and Lucius watched in horror and confusion as he turned to face the werewolf. What the Waste was he thinking? What could a regular human do? He wasn't even able to run quickly.

To everyone's further confusion Ivan threw a pouch between him and the approaching garm and began backing away as well, giving the group a quick glare.

"I said cover your ears!"

Lucius obeyed out of sheer shock and watched as Ivan leaned his cane against the wall before raising his rifle to take aim.

Just as the werewolf reached the spot where the pouch had landed Ivan fired his shot, but to Lucius' great dismay it missed its target and hit the wall right next to it instead.

Or rather, it hit the torch that was placed there, and the rest of the group finally realised why they were covering their ears.

Ivan had already turned around to push them backwards when the torch fell from the wall and hit the pouch of gunpowder in front of the huge creature.

The ignition was near instantaneous and as smoke engulfed the area Lucius dared to look back at the scene. It was hard to discern, but the howls from the creature and a light glow here and there suggested it may be in need of a new coat of fur. He dared to breathe out only a little, but knew it would be foolish to stop running. Instead he grabbed hold of Ivan and pulled him along to make their escape as quick as possible.

"Where to?" he whispered, failing to stifle a cough as he tried finding their way through the smoke. "We—We gotta get out as quickly as possible but that thing's blocking the way."

He received no reply, and looking closer it seemed Ivan had covered his ear with something, probably to protect it from the noise. Lucius very much preferred him to hear what was going on though, so he pulled the protection away from the man's ear.

"We gotta find a way out," he leaned in and repeated. "But the garm is blocking the entrance!"

"We're finding those blighted scientists first," Ivan growled under his breath, now following Lucius' pace without urging and snatched his ear protection back, fortunately not equipping it again.

"Are you fucking serious?" Lucius half whispered, half yelled at him. "That thing's gonna gut us if we don't get out now."

As he said it, a booming splash was heard from behind them, and Lucius guessed the werewolf had weighed its options and chosen the water to put out any threatening embers. It wasn't that deep, so it would be out of there in no time anyway and Lucius tried looking around for anything they might use to their advantage.

As predicted, a drenched, furious garm made its way up onto the passageway again and let out another blood curdling roar. It turned its head in Ivan's direction and Lucius gritted his teeth. Of course he'd be the target.

A knife's not gonna do the slightest bloody damage to this one. What are we supposed to use that's big enough to even stand a chance?

A snarling sound behind him caused Lucius to freeze up, and a gust of wind went through his hair as another large creature jumped over the water to the other side. Refusing to lose momentum, it immediately spurned against the wall as it landed and shot back to sink its teeth into the garm's neck.

Oh right, a Richard!

Resisting the urge to cheer Lucius wasted no time making his way in the other direction, desperate to find another way out while Richard's reverted form bought them some time.

Ivan wasn't in quite the same hurry, and Lucius gritted his teeth as the man stared back at the fight that was ensuing. Sure, Lucius would have enjoyed watching it as well, hadn't they been in a life threatening situation with two giant beasts fighting just a few yards behind them.

But they very much were, and Ivan's fascination would have to wait.

"Back to reality please, Lieutenant!" He leaned in close to get the man's attention. "We actually got a chance to get away now, let's not—"

"That means we have a chance to find them too," Ivan interrupted, decisively pushing Lucius away. "If you want to retreat that's fine, but I won't follow you."

Lucius clenched his teeth. Why was he supposed to care anyway? If that man was gonna keep going despite the danger that was up to him. Lucius had no responsibility to get him out of there unharmed.

Yet he reluctantly found that he did care, and he suddenly had to consider Anthony's concern when Lucius disregarded danger as well. If Lucius worried about Ivan, then how did Anthony feel in those cases?

"Empathy? When you're in danger of all times?"

Shut up.

"What do you have in mind?" he then asked as they stopped before a corner, and Ivan carefully looked around it. "Walking blindly? The sewer system is huge!"

"Even they shouldn't be hiding too far from their way down, and if that werewolf has something to do with them we already have a lead." Ivan continued around the corner and Lucius begrudgingly followed. "We'll try to circle around to where it came from."

Lucius could agree to that. If nothing else that would bring them closer to where they'd come down, so if things went south there was a greater chance to escape.

Ivan grabbed a torch from the wall and handed it over to Lucius.

"Look for hidden entrances," he then ordered and started hitting his cane against their surroundings. "Anything that seems out of the ordinary."

"Shouldn't be too hard." Lucius looked around, shining light on the stone walls. "Not a lot of room for secrets down here."

"Over here," Ivan then said and pulled him along to a bridge that led further into the tunnels and Lucius pursed his lips. It would bring them in the opposite direction of the entrance, but Ivan strode forward while pointing down at muddy tracks on the ground. "They're from both that creature and humans. With that temper, it would not let humans walk around here unless it was on their side."

"But is it on their side?" Lucius wondered, remembering Ethan's theory about the Larkspur order and their experiments.

"Regardless, there are prints about as new as that one's, so that's the way we're going."

Lucius grimaced but followed the man over the bridge. The werewolf tracks stopped before that, and it wasn't hard to figure out the poor wooden boards stood no chance against that creature's weight.

"You keep looking." Ivan stopped, reaching for his rifle again. "I will reload this one."

Without much to hit against walls, Lucius went with the shaft of his knife. It didn't have the same impact as a cane but he hoped it would at least notify him of changes in wall structure.

A roar from further down the tunnels where they'd come from startled him, and he inhaled a deep breath. He hoped dearly that Richard could use his smaller size to his advantage in the narrow space. The walkway was barely broad enough for the garm to stand on in the first place.

Then his eyes narrowed as he stared at the aforementioned ground in front of him.

There were marks. The stone had been worn down in places as if something heavy had been dragged across it, and his eyes instantly turned to the wall again.

It was hard to see, and even when squinting and bringing a torch close to the wall he almost missed it.

"Lieutenant." He waved Ivan closer and the man hurried forward, finishing his weapon preparations on the go.

Lucius showed him the markings on the floor first, and then he pointed at a seemingly loose rock about shoulder height in front of them.

"Should be that one," he concluded. "If there's a door here, that would be the handle."

"All right." Ivan nodded, placing his back against the wall and nodding for Lucius to take the other side. "You pull it open, and I'll go in first."

Lucius drew a breath, nodding back before grabbing the rock to pull it towards him.

To his surprise and relief, the disguised handle allowed him to open a door significantly lighter than the rock it was supposed to look like. It was almost as though he didn't need to pull at all.

In fact, it seemed to be opening up on its own.

"Mr. Cromwell!" Ivan yelled just as a low click reached Lucius' ears and the door suddenly shot towards him at an alarming speed, knocking him backwards towards the water. He made a desperate attempt at holding on to the door's handle, but it was far too small for his hand to support his weight and he gritted his teeth as aching fingers reluctantly let go of the door.

A sudden jolt through his body informed him that he wasn't falling anymore however, and he couldn't help but release a laugh of relief as Ivan pulled him close by his waistcoat.

"That was close," Ivan continued as he kept a firm arm around Lucius' shoulders to make sure his balance returned. Lucius happily held an arm around his waist in return, only then realising he'd dropped his torch. His heart pounded hard and despite him trying his best not to show it, his trembling inhalation found no issue revealing the shock he was in.

They both backed away to get a better look at the door which was slowly moving into the wall again, and they shared a frown. The wall had been attached to four arms that seemed to be the source of motion. It was hard to figure out the construction, but Lucius didn't feel the need to know why a trap worked as long as he could figure out how to avoid it.

"So... They really want to keep people out, huh?" Lucius concluded as the door shut.

"But for those who know, it's a convenient door that closes on its own." Ivan moved forward much to Lucius' hesitation since he still held a firm grip around the man. "It's slow enough on its way back. We can easily enter before that."

Lucius wasn't thrilled at the idea. Moving walls that knocked one into sewer water were as of recent his least favourite kind of wall.

He still nodded, because what else would they do? The werewolves were still fighting further away and they had actually found the hideout. He had to go on, for Mabel.

Besides, would Ivan even let him escape at this point?

"Are you ready?" Ivan asked, reaching a hand forward to place it on the handle while still out of range from the wall.

"Are..." Lucius scanned the man. "... Are you ready? Where's your rifle?"

Ivan barely spared him a glance.

"Dropped it."

Lucius gawked.

"What?" He looked around. "You—You dropped it? How?"

"When grabbing you." Ivan shrugged, retracting his hand when realising they wouldn't pull the handle just yet. "Both my hands were busy and with such a short amount of time I had to drop something."

He gestured at his cane.

"I prioritised, and the rifle fell into the water."

The dark, narrow space behind the wall suddenly seemed a lot more intimidating, and Lucius grimaced as a response.

"Do you think we should—"

"There's no way back now." Ivan shook his head, giving Lucius a disappointed look. "Not even if we would give up on finding them."

Lucius considered the fighting going on in the distance. Richard seemed to be doing pretty well despite the size difference, but that could change in a matter of seconds and if nothing else the garm couldn't possibly enter the space behind the wall.

So he drew a deep breath.

"R—Right, let's go."

Ivan reached for the handle again, and Lucius promptly held on to his arm as the door shot out from the wall.

The inside was, unsurprisingly, pitch black, and Lucius leaned forward with the torch to squint. Mostly to check for obvious traps, but also because he was certain he could discern another light source further down the path.

Ivan held a finger against his lips just before the door closed and Lucius nodded in agreement, placing his torch on the ground. If someone was down there they'd probably already heard them, but any kind of stealth was better than none.

Lucius grimaced as more doubt filled him, especially since Ivan wasn't armed anymore. All they had was Lucius' knife but it wouldn't help much in case a whole ambush awaited them.

One thing was for certain though; Ivan was way more seasoned in combat than Lucius, meaning they would be better off with him holding the knife. So Lucius brought it out and nudged the man's hand with the shaft.

Ivan took his hand, but instead of receiving the knife he closed Lucius' fingers over it, suggesting he hold on to it.

Not the brightest move, Lucius reckoned. That being the case however, he snuck forward to walk first.

Ivan was not on board with that, and he tried dragging Lucius backwards. This wouldn't have been a problem at all had the path been broader, but Lucius' struggling didn't make it easy and he soon gave up. The risk of unwanted commotion wasn't worth it.

And so, Lucius was first in line as they approached the opening where some kind of light was present. He stopped right before it and prepared to take whoever was in there by surprise. How would he go about it though? Would he be more successful if he crouched down? Or would he wait for sounds to indicate where in the room people were located?

If there even are people in there to begin with.

Ivan had tilted his head down to look at the floor, trying to watch for moving shadows but having no luck, and after waiting for an excruciating amount of time Lucius decided they had to act.

The first room he entered was almost as cramped as the corridor outside. No effort had been made to disguise the small, natural cave as a proper room aside from a couple of wooden boards on the ground. There was little to investigate there. The flickering light from a lantern was just enough to illuminate a coat rack to the right and a large barrel to the left.

Lucius wrinkled his nose at the barrel. It gave off an odd, fermented smell, and Lucius cautiously stepped over to look down into it.

It was nothing more than a transparent liquid, and he looked over at Ivan while rubbing his hands together, trying to mouth 'for cleaning'.

Ivan was unimpressed and nodded for him to continue into the other room, so Lucius sucked in a breath. The lantern was more than enough to hint at someone being present.

As his usual luck would have it though, things were much worse than just someone being present in the other room, and Lucius instantly wanted to back out of there as soon as he entered.

"What is it?" Ivan whispered, appearing right behind Lucius to look inside as well.

On the bright side Lucius couldn't see any human or creature, but on the not so bright side he saw a lot of other things, and he was rather certain it was more of a torture chamber than one for scientific experiments.

"What sort of blighted research are they doing down here?" Ivan whispered under his breath as he stared from the empty cages further away in the room to the chains hanging from the ceiling.

"You know what? I'm not so certain I'd like to know anymore," Lucius replied, finding to his remorse that Ivan's current position blocked his chances of retreat. "Just—Let's just hurry up and see what we can find."

He happily strode over to a writing desk right next to a table that had been armed with straps. It sent shivers down his spine, but he chose to focus specifically on the desk.

Of course, Mabel would likely not be inside a desk, but any clues to where she could be or the location of what Ivan wanted would be welcome. And if he was being honest he'd rather have Ivan find Mabel first so Lucius would have a chance to prepare himself.

Ivan seemed hesitant. Whatever he was looking for was likely not in any of the cages or dark, creepy corners, but Lucius had already claimed the desk as his area of investigation so Ivan would just have to deal.

As always, to Lucius' frustration as he crouched down to get to work, the drawers were locked. Clicking his tongue, he hurriedly brought out his Reaper emblem to correct this issue. He wasn't even in the mood to brood over his treacherous comrades like he usually did when he brought it out. He just wanted to get out of there quickly.

The drawers seemed odd though. He wasn't even sure if his attempts were doing anything at all. The pick just spun around in there, neither reaching through nor finding something to move. Apparently these locks worked differently than the ones Lucius was familiar with.

Some stupid scientist lock I'll bet.

After unsuccessful attempts at all of them he let out a low groan, standing up to relay his lack of progress.

"No luck over here. How about—"

Suddenly a movement by a stone pillar in the middle of the room caught Lucius' eye. A movement that wasn't even close to where Ivan was standing, and he ducked down under the desk again right as a gunshot echoed through the room.

Shit.